PaulRB

On a day where a little help from mother nature help the Demons kick with the wind for three quarters it seemed that the grand final drought which stretched back to 1964 was going to be ended in the same year as the finals drought which began the same year. John Northey played his first tactical wildcard before the first bounce when he allowed anyone who wanted to visit the rooms before the bounce to do so in order to motivate his squad. His big on-field move was Rodney Grinter? lining up in attack. His aggression was a welcome addition to the forward line, and he flattened Hawk Chris Mew with a knockout bump. Having kicked with the wind in the first term the wind decided to swing around and the Demons were kicking with it again in the second. As the lead stretched out to over three goals during the term the Hawks had their first big win for the day when Robert Dipierdomenico ironed out Robert Flower with a hard bump. The Melbourne captain was forced to leave the ground with a damaged shoulder and it seemed that he was about to be cheated out of a Grand Final appearance in the cruellest possible way. 22 points in front at half-time and while things looked good for Melbourne, there was still a half to play against one of the best teams of their generation. Hawthorn had looked terrible in losing to Carlton the week before, but they were sitll the reigning premiers. The two sides broke even in the third term, leaving the Demons still 22 points up at three-quarter time and suddenly the Demons fans dared to dream. Surely the suffering of the past 23 years was going to come to end in spectacular fashion? Melbourne had winners all over the park, Sean Wight beat Dermott Brereton handily, while taggers Bret Bailey andDean Chiron blanketed their opponents. Todd Viney and Ricky Jackson were also prominent. Wight's domination of Brereton would ironically play a part in Melbourne's downfall when the controversial Hawk ended up at centre-half back, following a failed move to full-forward, and helped turn the tide for his team. With both Brian Wilson and Jackson having left the ground injured the Hawks stormed back into the match and crept to within nine points. Initially they botched their chances, but drew to within a goal with just 30 seconds left in time-on. Melbourne's legs were tiring, but if they could just hold on for another minute or so they'd have a week to recover before the big one. Three times in the frantic last quarter the Demons could have sealed the match. Simon Eishold missed an absolute sitter, Ricky Jackson set up Graeme Yeats 30m out from goal and watched him miss, and Tony Campbell did likewise with seconds left after Greg Healy had pounced on a centre clearance. After Campbell's miss Michael Tuck kicked in to Peter Schwab, who handballed to Chris Langford. He kicked towards Buckenara who became entangled with Rod Grinter and hit the deck. A free kick was paid outside 50, but in the chaos of those final moments Jim Stynes chased his opponent across the mark. Buckenera received a 15m penalty and, unaware that the siren had sounded, goalled to put the Demons out in the most heartbreaking circumstances. Even Hawk Robert DiPierdomenico admitted his side were lucky. "We're thieves" he said. John Northey, still in shock at his side's loss, said "Now we've got to go through the trauma of 12 months to get back where we are now". He was famously pictured pointing at Stynes in the rooms, saying "Don't you ever do that again, Jim". Ironically Buckenara would never have been there if he'd accepted a big money offer from West Coast to return to Perth at the beginning of the year. Robert Flower, who weeks before had merely wanted to play one final, had now been robbed out of the ultimate test. Despite his injury he had returned to the ground during the last quarter when Jackson went down with cramp and played at full-forward. He was matched up against Chris Mew who was dazed after feeling the full force of a Rod Grintershirtfront earlier in the match. Nobody will ever know if he would have been able to play a week later. Wilson for sure would have missed the Grand Final if his side had made it, he had broken his collarbone. Tears flowed in the dressing room as talk turned to 1988, but Northey wasn't having any sort of praise for his side. "It's the biggest disappointment of my life" he said. "It's the chance of a lifetime - who knows whether we'll get another opportunity. They might say we've done well over the season. That's a lot of [censored]. We have let everybody down. The players will suffer today, they've got to". Best were Jackson, Wight and Viney.

That pay scale highlights why we may be a good chance to pick off a budding Star (i.e. Parker) from a club that has several high paid player leaving little for the rest.

Dang!

Just reported on AFL that Dons have appointed.... Woosha! Yay!

Dons have too much stupid hubris to go past Worsfold. His prior success at Weagles will enable them to raise more money from their blindly loyal fans and buy the hovercraft from the Blues. Its going cheap I hear.

Tough as it may be to swallow, Frawley my be the key to the Hawks winning the flag if he shuts down Kennedy. Good luck to him. Oh Go Eagles!

He could borrow Bronnies chopper for his weekly family visits...

Freeman looks like a poor man's Petracca. If the Pies want to play I'd suggest Howe for Treloar.

Given the players GWS hemorrhage every year, our troubles with Jeremy is small fish...

I think McCartney for the next 2-3 years will be critically beneficial, especially if Roo's also has a place at the development table as well. Will allow us to build a really strong foundation for prolonged success under Goodwin.

Harley and Petracca in 2016 would add serious X-FACTOR.... Please please please...

And not nice to our Harley

Howe for Harley?

Noted that Jeremy has been replaced with HOGAN! on the RHS of the MFC website...

Would be an epic coup if he landed at the MFC! An epic coup!

Dons are so desperately in need of high draft picks after being banned from the early rounds they'll be looking to keep pick 4 and add top 10 picks. i.e. our pick 6, etc...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-17/exdogs-coach-mccartney-in-mix-for-bombers

Totally agree, with Petracca, Kent and even Trenners lined up as forward mids...

Salivating at the prospect of Petracca fully fit, confident and ready to rock come round 1 2016! Go Dees! Indeed

He's stalling for time while one of his suitors finishes their finals campaign. Gawnski

Jack of all stats, king of none... 26th for tackles... Your figure of "14th most tackles" deceptive as his average of just over 2 tackles per game (20 games) puts him 26th, for a player who's often in the middle its woeful. Billy Stretch, a kid in his FIRST season, playing a similar role, managed over 3.5 tackles per game (11 games).

The reality is Harley will be undergoing a serious re-evaluation of his priorities and his commitment to Footy Vs some of his social interests. He'll know now that he can not sneak these indiscretions through while playing AFL. If he's made a personal commitment to footy and can convince Roos and Goodwin of this... then we're on!

Yikes! he might be too good for the MFC! What's happening!!!

I think if GWS lose McCartney as is now rumoured, they will go harder for Jeremy to fill the void and entertain the Sydney fans with his leaps...